Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) has rejected the Australian Professional Leagues’ (APL) attempted regulatory reforms.
Today, the APL released a series of purported changes to the employment framework of the A-League Men, which would take place over the next three seasons.
The announcement occurred despite a binding Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) being in place until next season and negotiations over a new agreement set to commence in the coming weeks.
“Simply put, the APL are unable to unilaterally impose these conditions on the players without their agreement, which has certainly not been provided,” PFA Chief Executive Beau Busch said.
“There is a CBA in place for next season. Any changes would have to be agreed with the players, and until today, they haven’t even been discussed.”
“The framework beyond next season will be negotiated as part of a future CBA. Today’s announcement is simply the APL negotiating with themselves. As always, the employment conditions of players will be the product of proper, good faith bargaining; not unilateral decision making.
“On the substance of the proposals, we do not believe the APL is on the right track. The changes as described would limit the ability of leading clubs to attract and retain top talent, restricting the league’s capacity to access millions of dollars of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) prize money and World Cup Club Benefits. They would weaken the product during a broadcast renegotiation and at a time when the league is desperate to attract fans.
“Finally, the announcement speaks again to the APL’s flawed governance model. Club directors are always likely to find themselves conflicted between their club’s short-term interests, and the game’s long-term, strategic needs. Because of previous decisions taken by APL, the league has a revenue problem.
“The players, have always been reasonable negotiating partners, however they will not accept half-baked cost-cutting solutions while the same governance structure which got us here remains in place.”
